According to the Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, Ginsburg requested police to take her to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight.

“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fell in her office at the Court last evening. She went home, but after experiencing discomfort overnight, went to George Washington University Hospital earlier this morning,” a statement via from the Supreme Court reads. “Tests showed that she fractured three ribs on her left side and she was admitted for observation and treatment.”
In her absence, the court went ahead Thursday with a courtroom ceremony welcoming new Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the court last month. President Donald Trump and new acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker were also present.

Ginsburg has had a series of health problems over the years. The aging justice broke two ribs in a fall in 2012 and had two prior bouts with cancer. In 2014, she had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery and was also was hospitalized after a bad reaction to medicine in 2009.

But she has never missed Supreme Court arguments. The court won’t hear arguments again until November 26.

Rib fractures are common among older adults, particularly after falls. The severity depends in part on whether the ribs are cracked or broken all the way through, and how many are broken. The extent of Ginsburg’s injury was not clear at press time.
Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ginsburg rebuffed suggestions from some liberals that she should step down in the first two years of President Barack Obama’s second term, when Democrats also controlled the Senate and would have been likely to confirm her successor.

She already has hired clerks for the term that extends into 2020, indicating she has no plans to retire.